How did Lee’s Summit become the city we know today? Find out at eye-opening museum

The Lee’s Summit History Museum, located in the city’s downtown, focuses on telling the story of the community’s founding, development and role in regional and national history.

Staffed by close to two dozen volunteers, the museum and its numerous exhibits are often eye-opening to first-time visitors.

“We continue to be surprised to hear so many Lee’s Summit residents indicate they were unaware of the museum,” said Fred Grogan, chairman of the Lee’s Summit Historical Society Board of Directors. “We now have high-quality exhibits and are regularly developing new temporary exhibits to always have something new for visitors to see and learn about.”

The museum “helps answer the question ‘how did we become the city we know today?’” he said.

Although the majority of the museum’s visitors are from Lee’s Summit and its surrounding communities, many visitors have family ties to Lee’s Summit and are hoping to trace their roots, Grogan said. Documents are available on site to help people research their family, and look at historic buildings.

Through the museum’s exhibits, visitors have the opportunity to learn about the community’s history dating back to the 1800s, Grogan said.

“Most people have no familiarity with the Border Wars and Civil War and the role that area residents played in those conflicts,” he added. “Very few had also realized that Harry Truman announced his candidacy for his first election (for Jackson County judge) here in 1922 in Lee’s Summit.”

The museum highlights a number of important aspects of Lee’s Summit history, Grogan said, including the importance of the railroad’s arrival in the town’s early development, how the Border War and Civil War shaped the area’s fortunes and agriculture’s role as the lifeblood of the community up until the 1950s and 1960s.

Several exhibits focus on the national reputation and legacy of both Longview Farm and Unity Village as well as Lee’s Summit’s “role in responding to and helping shape our nation’s history, as exemplified by area citizens’ support of and role in our nation’s major wars and conflicts,” he said.

The History Museum is looking to expand in the future, including moving from an all-volunteer staff to an organization with paid staffing, Grogan said.

“We have very ambitious plans to expand our hours, increase the number of special exhibits, and increase collaborative efforts with Lee’s Summit area schools,” he said.

“In May we will be holding our first Legends of Lee’s Summit event, which will honor several individuals and/or families who achieved significant accomplishments. This will be an important first step for us in conducting a major fundraising effort, which will allow us to begin implementing these goals.”

The 31-year-old History Museum has been in its location at 220 S.W. Main since April 2015, when it moved from a smaller space in the old train depot. Its current location has its own historical significance, once serving as the 1939 Post Office building. Grogan shared that after the 2015 move, the number of museum visitors increased by at least 20% each year until 2020 when the pandemic caused it to close for long periods.

“The artifacts displayed in the museum have been donated by area residents and their families,” Grogan said. “We are always prepared to accept donated artifacts that have a direct relationship to Lee’s Summit and help illustrate its development.”

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Group tours are available by contacting the museum at Leessummitmuseum.com